United Church of God, an International Association
Council of Elders Meeting Report

December 6, 2011

The morning meeting was called to order by Chairman Melvin Rhodes at 9:00 a.m., Eastern Standard Time.

Member Survey Report by Robin Webber

Robin Webber first expressed the Council's great appreciation for the survey analysis done by member Julie Zutz from Philadelphia, PA. This is the third year that she has provided this professional analysis for the Church.

The member survey reflects a greater level of happiness and excitement regarding the forward movement of the church. It was noteworthy that the overall positive thrust of the survey was at times punctuated with humor, previously not seen, which reflects a happy and healthy body of members. The highlights of the survey showed that the membership is very interested in more in-depth and interactive Bible studies. The newly hired pastors generally received many positive comments. Many remarks reflected upon the newly-found unity in UCG.

Mr. Webber pointed out that there are three key elements of organization health. The first two in our case are weekly attendance and devotion to God and the mission of the gospel reflected through donations. In both of these the brethren have positively and overwhelmingly responded this past year. The third key measurement reflected in the survey is the "Net Promoter Score" (NPS). Net promoters in our situation are those who respond enthusiastically to the survey question: "How willing are you to recommend contact with the United Church of God to non-members?" This year's survey showed a tremendous momentum gain in that key growth element. The NPS for church members rose from 0.22 to 4.54 on a scale average of 1 to 10.

The survey also showed that the net promoter scores of the pastors and elders were, not surprisingly, almost six times higher than the membership. All results show very positive forward movement while leaving room for considerably more growth. Mr. Bill Eddington commented that the upbeat role of the pastors and elders is having a significant influence in raising the membership response in the coming year. Enthusiasm for what God is doing within and through the church is a key sign of health as an organization. Mr. Webber analyzed the membership presently as "constructively critical," which he pointed out is a positive and necessary trait because responsible feedback is essential to the Church's progress and growth.

The survey revealed that 60 percent of attendees believe that the church is doing a good job of "preparing a people." He then mentioned that 71 percent are satisfied with our efforts in proclaiming the gospel. This is an 11 percent shift upward. Mr. Webber then pointed out that the Feast of Tabernacles comments on the survey were nearly 82 percent positive. His summary: "The brethren love the Feast!" He also edited a misprint on the media analysis page of the Vertical Thought magazine statistics, showing that it actually has a 71.46 percent positive response (not 41.76 percent).

Strategic Plan—The Three Levels of Planning by Bill Eddington

The purpose of this report was to provide a primer on strategic planning for the benefit of the Council members who have not had the formal training in the process. The first point Bill Eddington made was that the acronym ELMO (Enough! Let's move on!) is an often important tool in strategic planning.

There are four strategic questions: 1) Where are we now? 2) Where do we want to be? 3) What do we do to get there? 4) How do we monitor our progress? Mr. Eddington believes that we have not yet effectively mastered how to monitor our progress, pointing out that "you can't manage what you can't measure."

Another key part of strategic planning is the four-part elements of SWOT: 1) Strengths (internal), 2) Weaknesses (internal), 3) Opportunities (external) and 4) Threats (external).

Strategic Planning Session

Mr. Webber and Mr. Eddington then led a session for the Council to analyze the vision statement of the church with the consideration of refining and updating it. It was agreed that any vision statement should be anchored by a scripture or scriptures. Phrases from Ephesians:4:16 and Hebrews:2:10 were discussed as part of the statement.

After lunch the Council continued to discuss the vision and mission statements of the church. Further discussions about rewriting the vision statement were tabled until a future date. A discussion ensued about the Guiding Principles for the Mission Statement in our existing Strategic Plan. The Council spent much of the afternoon reviewing the principles and tightening the wording of the statements.

Discussion on the details of the "positioning statements" (another strategic planning term) is to be modified to included:

• The role of the brethren in the church's responsibility to preaching the gospel to the world;
• The development of leadership to prepare a people for works of service now and to attain the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
• The building of meaningful, godly relationships as explicitly taught by Jesus Christ in the Scriptures.

Finally, the discussion moved onto the need to build the goals, based on the three positioning statements. The operations managers were asked to develop those goals within their areas of responsibility and submit them to the Council. With that, Mr. Webber handed the day's meeting back to Mr. Rhodes, who asked Council member John Elliott to close the session with prayer. The meeting adjourned just after 5:00 p.m.

December 7, 2011

The primary session of the Council's quarterly meeting began at 9:00 a.m., when it was called to order by Chairman Melvin Rhodes. Robin Webber gave the opening prayer for God's guidance with special mention of Council member Bill Bradford's daughter Jenny Huthnance in Australia, who was in the middle of a health crisis.

Minutes of the August meeting were approved as was an amendment to the rules of order presented by Bill Eddington. Mr. Rhodes requested and received approval to amend the agenda due to the Bradfords' need to return to Australia early.

Media Philosophy Discussion—Scott Ashley and Darris McNeely

Scott Ashley presented the need to review and redraft the media philosophy. Darris McNeely explained that the philosophy is designed for those who actually work and produce in Media Services and thus only needs the approval of the Council. They requested that the Council remand the media philosophy project to the Media Committee to study and redraft so that it can be presented to the Council at the February meeting for their approval.

Bill Bradford explained the concern of international areas about how commentary about various groups or beliefs is sometimes made in The Good News. Articles on certain topics can violate anti-defamation laws which could subject the church to unnecessary legal action or reprisal. This concern will be considered by the Media Committee as they edit the media philosophy, which the Council unanimously requested them to do.

President's Report—Dennis Luker

Dennis Luker reviewed his and his wife LeeAnn's extensive Feast trip to the British Isles, Germany, France and Italy to meet with the brethren and ministry there. They noted the warmth, love and enthusiasm of all the brethren in each area. The trip provided a strengthening of the home office's (and by extension the Council's) relationships and communication with those areas.

He next outlined another trip to visit U.S. congregations in Phoenix, AZ, and the Bay Area in California for their 50th anniversaries in November. The Lukers had very good visits with the ministry and brethren in those areas. Mr. Luker pastored both of those churches many years ago. They finally ended the trip with a visit to the brethren and their family in their most recent pastorate in Seattle, WA.

Mr. Luker's final item to report was about the launch of the elders' wives forum in November. Over 150 ladies have signed up for the forum, and more than 60 have participated in discussions thus far. Many comments have reflected the enthusiasm and feeling of connectedness experienced by the elders' wives from around the world who participate in the forum. Mrs. Luker and Lisa Fenchel serve as the forum's moderators.

He concluded that they feel very positive about United because of the strength and goodwill of God's people (this reflects a very high Net Promoter Score!).

Ministerial and Members Services (MMS) Report—Vic Kubik

Vic Kubik provided the Council with a handout summary of the statistics for the ministry and congregations. There have been 36 new elder ordinations since January. The overall attendance in the U.S. congregations has stabilized since the recent conflict and is now beginning to grow, as shown by October's weekly attendance figure of 7,621. The Kingdom of God Bible Seminar attendances were not averaged into that figure. We are very pleased that over 1,500 new people attended the first round of the KoG Seminars in September-October. The preparations for the next round of seminars are moving along very well.

The weekly eNews from MMS has become a staple of the office's communication with the field ministry and congregation leaders, providing very up-to-date reports on the church and work.

Mr. Kubik commented on how well the UYC camp directors' conference went in early November. He was especially impressed with the professionalism of all the men and their wives, particularly noting how overall camp coordinator Steve Nutzman has seamlessly managed the overall program during this year of transition and reconstruction.

He also reported the positive developments of international areas overseen by MMS from the home office. The good news includes considerable progress in Zambia, with our attendance numbers constantly rising toward their previous levels. In South Africa, the East London congregation has recently been revitalized within UCG.

The newly-begun area conferences for the U.S. ministry have gotten off to an excellent start with the first conference in Cincinnati. There will be a total of seven conferences in central locations in the U.S. These will not match exactly our region lines, but are designed to provide the most central conference locations for economy of travel costs.

He also outlined the need for a new job description for Ministerial Trainee. As we rebuild the ministry, training new men who have ministerial potential but are not yet ordained has become happily necessary.

Media Services—Peter Eddington

Peter Eddington started with the exciting announcement of another network, the Word Network, airing Beyond Today television. It potentially reaches more viewers than WGN America. Word Network via satellite reaches almost 200 countries. The airing times will be twice a week on Tuesday and Saturday night/Sunday. The midweek airing will provide a good test to see how well weekday programming reaches the public.

The Ion Network airing time in Chicago will switch from 9:30 a.m. on Sunday following an infomercial to 8:00 a.m. to follow a much more popular program. We are concerned about the "results for cost" from the Ion Network airtimes in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. But the Word Network will cover the U.S. West Coast at a better time than WGN America even if Ion Network airings don't improve.

Australia is also testing Beyond Today on a station in Brisbane, which is in its first month producing a number of responses.

From the publishing end of Media Services we mail 30,000 to 50,000 booklets a month, and in each is included a Kingdom of God Bible Seminar color flyer. The seminars are being advertised extensively on Google and Beyond Today, and the next issue of The Good News will carry the two-page ad. Over 500 have signed up for the seminars in the U.S. and five other countries. This is actually somewhat ahead of the sign-up rate for the first seminar last September.

A new French translation of our Is the Bible True? booklet is going to the printers very soon. Additional booklets are being translated into Portuguese by Jorge de Campos. The church has several Facebook pages that provide another location for interested contacts.

Financial Report—Aaron Dean

God has blessed us greatly during this crucial year, and that very much includes financially. Due to events, the annual audit was done after the Feast. The audit report primarily considers whether an organization is a "going concern." After explaining our initial loss of income, our financials reveal that the United Church of God is both going and growing!

He also noted that we have had additional showings of the Texas property but no offers yet. God has also blessed us with considerably lower healthcare costs this year. We need to keep praying for everyone's health for more than one reason. We now have reduced stress after the past conflict, but increased stress due to increased workloads—which is a better kind of stress. Good health for the ministry and employees really helps our income.

It wasn't our great management, but God's blessing that has enabled us to do this well this year. Mr. Dean commented, "When I look at our much smaller income and the amount of work accomplished compared to say 1986 with its much larger income, we look like Gideon's army!"

He encouraged the Council members to spend time visiting with the home office staff to see how happy they are doing their jobs and how high the morale is among the staff.

We are using our reserves to maintain momentum and keep the work moving forward. We are operating at about two-thirds of our past size and income.

Roles and Rules Committee review of the Bylaws—Bill Eddington

The Chairman called upon Bill Eddington to present an additional bylaw proposal—7.9.2.2—which is a process for members of the GCE to submit agenda items for the next General Conference of Elders. After reading the proposed bylaw and brief discussion the Council approved the proposed bylaw and the statement of justification, which will be submitted to the GCE in accordance with applicable process.

He then discussed the possible dates for the next Council teleconference, and it was decided to have it after the Winter Family Weekend on December 27. The Council then broke for lunch.

Home Office Expansion Proposal—Dennis Luker, Peter Eddington and Aaron Dean

Mr. Luker outlined the developing need and longstanding plan to expand first the television studio. As that planning progressed, concern for the expansion needs for the entire office and local congregation came to light. He then asked Peter Eddington to discuss the details of the potential architectural plan thus far drawn up. The working concept is to put as much of our available building space affordably under roof to allow for urgent needs and foreseeable expansion.

Mr. Eddington handed out a proposed building floor plan. John Elliott asked if input had been sought from the home office staff and what their response was. Mr. Eddington explained that the entire staff had an extensive meeting to discuss the idea, which had produced numerous important improvements to the plan. The plan is for expansion and remodeling—not for a new building. If it is approved, the process outlined by the architect who designed the current building would take approximately 12 months from start to finish. The plan calls for extensive multi-purpose use of floor space.

Mr. Dean then presented the financial details of the building expansion. He explained that because we purchased the slope below the home office years ago for $1, it provides the drainage area required by local codes for an expansion that we're considering. The main point is that the expansion will primarily serve the purpose of preaching the gospel (especially with the expanded television studio, mailing and mail processing areas) and preparing a people by providing the needed sized meeting hall for the Cincinnati church and for ABC.

The mortgage plan is for 20 years, but he would like to have it paid off in 10 years. The architect's initial rough estimate is for $2.7 million, but Mr. Dean would like to get it done for well under that amount.

Council members recommended making this a unifying experience by letting the GCE and membership see the developing proposal and have plenty of opportunity to provide input—and prayers for God's guidance and blessing. Mr. Dean reiterated that we must be most concerned for the first line commission that Christ gave the Church to preach the gospel and prepare His people and that any proposed building expansion must be focused on enabling us to do that better.

Council Nomination Process—Bill Eddington

The Roles and Rules Committee presented three options to improve the way that Council members are nominated by the GCE. As discussion ensued, the need to form a "Nomination Committee" to synchronize with the Bylaws became clear. The three options that various Council members had suggested to the Roles and Rules Committee were discussed quite thoroughly, considering the pros and cons of each.

After some discussion on the various options, Mr. Eddington asked for a straw poll. It became evident that the proposed options had sufficient support to attain the minimum requirement of seven votes to be adopted. Therefore it was decided to leave the Council nomination process as it currently stands.

The discussion then moved onto the selection of a Nomination Committee. It was approved unanimously that the Roles and Rules Committee also be the Nomination Committee required by Bylaw Article 8.1. In that capacity, it will continue the review the nomination process.

Office of Deputy Chairman

The next discussion item was the subject of a Deputy Chairman. It was approved unanimously to put forward to the GCE a new bylaw to elect a Deputy Chairman, so that he may be able to serve as the Chairman in the case that the incumbent Chairman is unable, unavailable or unwilling to continue performing his duties.

Ministerial Code of Ethics—Mario Seiglie

The Chairman then requested Mario Seiglie on behalf of the Ministerial Ethics Committee to update the Council on the committee's progress in upgrading the ministerial Code of Ethics. The upgrade involves aspects to be added to the Code of Ethics that the administration had requested of the Council.

He distributed two documents to the Council with the work the committee had done to date. The Council then agreed add to the ministerial Code of Ethics further clarifications related to: conflict of interests; ministerial illnesses and treatment; responsibilities to wife, Church and congregation; confidentiality in counseling; appearance of evil (more specifically about avoiding being alone with another woman or a minor); ownership of the church's assets; responsibilities towards other ministers and office staff; and governance of UCG. Further work on the code of ethics will continue in future Council meetings.

Doctrine Committee updates—Bob Berendt

Bob Berendt, chairman of the Doctrine Committee, updated the Council on the committee's work since the last meeting. He explained that the Council of Elders, and by delegated responsibility, the Doctrinal Committee, is responsible to examine documents publish by various authors in the church, to ensure that the doctrines of the Church are protected as well as to answer questions and/or respond to extensive documents of a doctrinal nature submitted to the Council. To counter outside claims to the contrary he reemphasized that the Council does not have the authority to change any doctrine and does not intend to change any doctrine. UCG Bylaws require that any proposal for a change of doctrine would have to be submitted to the General Conference of Elders and attain 75 percent approval by the elders.

He pointed out that there are topics where there is no specific doctrine laid out by the church. Amongst the latter was a question submitted to the Council asking if "all the unborn will be resurrected." Mr. Berendt submitted a draft reply to the Council and explained its basic content at this stage. He requested all members to study and submit input to the Doctrinal Committee.

Also submitted was a draft study paper replying to a question related to eating unleavened bread during the Days of Unleavened Bread. The Council is asked to review the draft of a study paper that states that God intended we should eat unleavened bread every day of the Days of Unleavened Bread, which, if approved, would replace the existing paper on the UCG website.

Mr. Berendt also distributed to the Council members a list of doctrine-related questions and reply papers, which are a "work in progress" of the Doctrine Committee. The list clearly states the process status of each item being responded to.

Amendments to Bylaws and Rules of Association

Bill Eddington was asked by the Chairman to address the Council with the currently proposed amendments to the Bylaws and/or to the Rules of Association.

Mr. Eddington reviewed the amendment to article 7.5.2, which relates to the manner of casting ballots, allowing in the future the capability to submit ballots electronically. This was approved by the Council to move forward on the amendment process, and to be placed on the agenda for the next GCE.

He then reviewed an amendment to the Rules of Association, changing the word "possesses" with the word "dwelling". The current Rules of Association states that a church member is "an individual who has been duly baptized and possesses God's Holy Spirit." The wording is to change to "an individual who has been duly baptized and wherein dwells God's Holy Spirit." This amendment was approved by the Council to move forward in the amendment process which places it on the agenda for the next GCE.

Advisory Committee to Review the Responsibilities of the GCE

The Chairman requested John Elliott to address the agenda item related to the "responsibilities of the General Conference of Elders." Mr. Elliott stated that "the ministry of UCGAIA carefully adheres to all of God's laws, and we are, as men of our word, committed to also following the governing documents of United Church of God. There are thorough efforts made by the Council, by the officers, and made by the administration, to carefully follow all of our governing documents. In August the Council of Elders authorized the GCE to form a GCE advisory committee to assist them in their review of compliance and responsibilities of the governing documents."

In order to facilitate the formation of that GCE advisory committee a terms-of-reference document is needed to help the eldership understand the framework of the committee's operation and how they can report back to the Council with their recommendations. He then asked Mr. Bill Eddington as the Chairman of the Rules and Roles Committee to present the Terms of Reference document to the Council.

Mr. Eddington read the Terms of Reference of the "GCE Responsibilities Advisory Committee." The liaison person will be Mr. Elliott. Mr. Elliott moved that the council approve the Terms of Reference, and Mr. Eddington seconded it. The Council so approved the item. Mr. Elliott will write to the members of the General Conference to explain the process.

As the December 2011 Council of Elders meetings drew to a close, Chairman Rhodes called upon Scott Ashley to deliver the closing prayer, and the meeting adjourned at 5:45 p.m.

December 8, 2011

The final morning session began at 8:30 a.m. with an opening prayer by Mario Seiglie.

Strategic Plan Goals—Bill Eddington

The Chairman then called upon Bill Eddington to lead the Council through a working discussion about the goals of the developing Strategic Plan.

Public Proclamation Goal—The Council agreed to add the word "improving" to the existing goal, and it would read as follows: "Proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God, continually increasing and improving its impact and global reach."

Congregational Care Goal—The Council agreed to change the goal statement to: "A godly environment that promotes Christ-like service, spiritual growth, humility, love and unity."

Organizational Goal—The Council discussed and agreed to the following goal statement: "Open communication channels and administrative policies and practices that enhance unity, effectiveness and godly relationships among employees, elders and brethren."

Robin Webber led a discussion to determine the date of a special additional teleconference involving the Council and the administration to develop objectives from the amended goals. The development of the objectives is a "cross domain" responsibility—that is, a dual and overlapping responsibility of both the Council and administration. The date was set for Tuesday, December 20, at 5p.m., Eastern Standard Time.

Proposed Amendment About Council Term Beginning—Bill Eddington

Mr. Bill Eddington then led a discussion on a resolution and possible amendment to the terms of Council members. It is proposed that new Council members should take office immediately after the closing of the regular Council of Elders meeting that follows the annual meeting of the General Conference of Elders each year rather than at the beginning of the next fiscal year on the first of July. The Council accepted the change. It was pointed out that although the term "Council year" appears in the Bylaws, it has never been formally defined. To address this anomaly, a resolution was passed to define the term "Council year" as beginning at the same time as Council members take office.

Changing the time that Council members take office required a consequential change to Bylaw 8.2.1 Office of the Chairman of the Council. A proposed amendment to this Bylaw article was approved by the Council for placement on the agenda of the 2012 annual meeting of the General Conference of Elders.

Executive Session

At 10:00 a.m. the Chairman concluded the open session of the Council meeting. The Council then entered executive session to discuss and decide various credentialing, ordination and personnel matters. The Council meeting officially ended after the lunch break when the items were all finalized.

-end-

Randy Stiver and Jorge DeCampos

Council Reporters

© 2011 United Church of God, an International Association